Saint Joseph Catholic Church

Today is the Optional Memorial of St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria (376-444). Cyril was one of the metropolitan sees of the Christian Church in the east, was one of the great defenders of the faith against the heresy of Nestorius who denied the oneness of person in Jesus Christ. At the Council of Ephesus in 431, over which he presided in the pope's name, and at his instigation, it was defined that Christ, the Son of God, is at the same time God and man, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother, is truly Theotokos, the Mother of God. St. Cyril died in 444. The Church venerates him as one of her great doctors. His commentary on the Gospel of St. John is one of the richest doctrinally of those left us by the Fathers of the Church.

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During the second session of the two-day extraordinary consistory (program), members of the College of Cardinals discussed the topic, “The Culture of Power and the Civilization of Love.”

According to the Vatican News’s summary of the confidential deliberations, “all the groups [of cardinals] reaffirmed the centrality of faith in Christ and of the Gospel, which has the power to transform the world when it is lived rather than treated as mere theory.”

“Many participants stressed the need to move beyond the logic of just war, since the Gospel cannot be imposed by force, and instead to speak of the right to proportionate self-defense,” according to the summary.

Vatican News reported that the cardinals also discussed the following topics, among others:

• “the challenges of the present time, highlighting the dehumanizing force of the culture of power, its universal reach, the temptation to conform to the logic of the powerful, and the normalization of war and polarization”
• “the responsibility to build peace and a civilization of love”
• “the importance of offering a credible witness—beginning within the Church itself—through a language centered on people: one of listening, forgiveness, reconciliation, restorative justice, and concrete gestures”
• “unity within the Church is essential to its credibility, as is dialogue with other faiths and religions, particularly Islam”
• “the role of political authority, calling for it to be freed from what was described as its toxic link with economic power”

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178 of the 241 members of the College of Cardinals took part in the first session of the two-day extraordinary consistory (program), during which they pondered the question, “In what kind of world are we called to proclaim the Gospel?”

According to the Vatican News’s summary of the confidential deliberations, the cardinals, gathered in groups, spoke about the following topics, among others:

• “increasing polarization within societies and communities, generating political tensions and violence and fueled by social divisions, misinformation and forms of communication that fail to foster encounter”
• “the suffering caused in many parts of the world by the lack of respect for religious and ethnic minorities, undermining religious freedom and giving rise to hostility, and at times violence, particularly against the Church”
• “excessive individualism, the crisis of the family, and the growing loneliness experienced by both elderly people and young people, identifying these as contributing factors to even more serious problems, including rising suicide rates and drug use”
• “the awareness of a widespread sense of distrust, fatalism and powerlessness towards institutions, democracy and the future, linked also to declining birth rates, the growth of criminal organizations, youth delinquency and drug trafficking”
• “the need to address migration in a humane and Christian way, recognizing how it is reshaping peoples, societies and communities while making effective integration policies increasingly urgent amid new forms of exclusion”

Pope Leo XIV sent 100,000 euros ($113,895) in aid to Venezuela following violent earthquakes there.

The Pontiff sent the aid, described as an initial donation, through the Dicastery for the Service of Charity (apostolic almoner’s office), in coordination with the apostolic nuncio to Venezuela and the archbishop of Caracas, the nation’s capital.

Addressing a UN Security Council discussion of children and armed conflict, a Vatican diplomat said that the Holy See “remains particularly concerned by the continued recruitment, abuse and abduction of children.”

“These grave violations rob children of their childhood, separate them from their families and communities, and expose them to violence and exploitation, resulting in lasting consequences,” Msgr. Marco Formica, interim chargé d’affaires of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, said on June 25. “Such suffering is a grave affront to the God-given dignity of every child, who deserves protection and care, and can never be considered as mere collateral damage in the prosecution of war.”

Msgr. Formica also said that the Holy See “encourages States that have not yet done so” to endorse the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas.

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